NIA charge sheets 4 suspected members of ISJK

The National Investigation Agency Wednesday filed a charge sheet against four suspected terrorists of the Islamic State of Jammu and Kashmir (ISJK) for the attack on a police team in Srinagar last year, officials said.

Nearly 20-days after the attack at the Tourist Reception Centre in Srinagar on November 24 last year, the NIA had taken over the probe into the incident from the state police, they said.

During its probe, The Jammu and Kashmir Police had arrested three suspected members of the terror group -- Tahir Ahmad Khan, Haris Mushtaq Khan and Asif Suhail Nadaf -- immediately after the incident.

"During their search, two pistols, 14 live rounds and three hand grenades were recovered from their possession along with an ISIS flag.

"The case was subsequently taken over by the NIA for investigation on December 13, 2018," an NIA spokesperson said here.

The agency had arrested one more accused Asif Majid Khan, who was allegedly involved in "harbouring other co-accused persons", he said.

"One illegal 12 bore single-barrel gun without a number and two KF-12 cartridges were recovered on his disclosure," the spokesperson said.

The agency alleged that all the arrested persons were members of the ISJK, an affiliate of the West Asia based terror group ISIS.

"Investigation unearthed a larger conspiracy of these terrorist elements propagating pan-Islamic ideology of the ISIS by recruiting and radicalising Kashmiri youths towards 'jihad' and targeting security forces," he said.

The agency claimed that three other accused in the case Ishfaq Ahmad Sofi, Pervez Ahmad Bhat and Asif Nazir Dar were killed during encounters with security forces in the state.

The NIA has charged the arrested persons under Indian Penal Code sections related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the stringent anti-terror Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, he said.